I have been trying to make sense of what has gone on in college football this year. It started with Michigan going down to Appalachian State in week one. South Florida defeating Auburn followed in week two. Then this past week, Kentucky beats Louisville, Utah manhandles UCLA, and Central Florida gives Texas a scare.
I can't remember a time when there have been so many preseason highly ranked teams go down so early in the season. I remember when these non-conference matchups used to be merely tune-ups for the real games. When conference foes met, both teams ranked, with conference championships and national championship hopes on the line. The fact is, at this point, there are only four schools left that have shown they deserve to be in the national championship hut.
And that's sad.
Our college football society has taken away the little guy and replaced it with overpowering BCS schools that have a golden ticket to the big game. If Michigan goes undefeated the rest of the way and a school that started the year unranked in a non-BCS conference goes undefeated, there is more of a chance of Michigan going to a BCS game than there is that non-BCS school.
It seems the influx of more and more bowl games aren't even for the non-BCS schools, but rather for more power conferences to get in to the postseason. This year, the Big 10 will have seven representatives in bowl games. How many times do we have 6-6 schools in the postseason, making a mockery of the bowl game? Meanwhile, 10-2 mid-conference schools are playing in the Goodyear Tire Bowl.
At the same time, USC starting quarterback John David Booty, who, in last week's Nebraska game, handed the ball off to victory is getting Heisman hype. Kirk Herbstreit said it best: we no longer give the Heisman to the most outstanding player in college football, but rather the most valuable player on the best team.
As much as I love college football, these things always rise to the top of the college landscape. That, and the lack of a playoff system to crown a true champion. That, however, has been written and talked about to death.
Maybe the real story is not the lack of dominance by the power conferences, but rather the continuing improvement of the mid-majors. Also, the pollsters really have no clue what they are doing.
In this era of YouTube, MySpace, and enhanced training in high school, many mid-majors are showing they can compete with the big boys on a regular basis. Do they get rewarded for their emergence on the national scene? No.
Last year, it was an undefeated Boise State knocking off Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Two years before that, Alex Smith was leading Utah to an unblemished record and a BCS victory. This year, many look at Hawaii and believe it's the Warriors turn to crash the BCS party.
The mockery of it all is that if Hawaii goes undefeated, or any mid-major team, for that matter, runs the table, it won't matter — they won't get a shot at the national championship.
That's where we stand, schools that are showing they can compete with the major conferences have been relegated to hoping they get to play in the Fiesta Bowl, never the national championship game. We have put so much emphasis on the BCS schools and their supposed dominance that when an unranked team beats a "powerhouse," it was the powerhouse that failed to deliver, never the unranked team's ability.
I have mentioned how poor I believe the Big 10's play has been and how I believe the Big 10 is an overrated conference. Maybe my thought process has been faulty. Maybe it's not the Big 10 to blame, but rather the other conferences are catching up.
The preseason poll is so messed up that pollsters have now been relegated to just taking people out of the top 25 if they lose in the first few weeks. Doesn't that tell you that maybe we should hold off on the polls until four or five weeks in, when you can have a measured understanding of each team and make a credible top 25?
This past week, The Citadel (who play in the same conference as Appalachian State) came close to toppling Wisconsin. Central Florida fell by only three points to Texas. Kentucky beats Louisville. Utah embarrasses UCLA. Troy beats Oklahoma State by 18.
Does anyone see a trend?
In 1984, BYU won a national championship from the WAC. Unless we open our eyes and start to treat everyone equally, that may be the last time a team from outside the BCS ever takes hope the top prize.
Forget strength of schedule, power conferences, and all that other nonsense. A team should be rewarded for going through the season unscathed, not teased with a BCS berth, but no real shot at the ultimate goal.
What kind of message are we sending when teams outside the BCS cannot even put a national championship as one of its team goals? What does it say that a team like Michigan, who, in the first two weeks of college football, embarrassed the program, but yet if the Wolverines go undefeated or lose one or two more games, they will have a better chance of securing a major bowl game than someone from the Mountain West Conference?
I truly believe college football is the best sport around. Every week counts, every game counts, but the way in which our football society works, that methodology only seems to make sense to the power conferences. Everyone else can look forward to the PapaJohns.com Bowl as their reward for a great season.
And that is unjust.
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